


she's your mother (you love her)

by Fives (janfives90)



Category: The Prom - Sklar/Beguelin/Martin
Genre: greenelan are in this but more as like a peripheral to Emma, it's mother's day themed, warnings: references to child abuse and alcoholism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:00:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24047818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janfives90/pseuds/Fives
Summary: “I love you, Emma, but you have to learn.”Emma swallows. “I love you, too, Mom. I understand.”
Relationships: Alyssa Greene/Emma Nolan
Comments: 4
Kudos: 54





	she's your mother (you love her)

**i.**

“Sit still.”

“But Mom, it hurts.”

“It’ll hurt a lot more if you don’t sit still.”

Emma fidgets in her chair as her mother continues to hold an ice pack against her blackening eye. “Please, Mom, can’t I-”

“Hush. If you’re still crying when your father gets back, you’ll regret it.” Her mother sighs and tilts Emma’s chin a bit. “What did you even do?”

“I-I don’t know. All I said was that I wanted to give a girl in my class a Valentine.”

Mrs. Nolan narrows her eyes. “Why would you want to do that?”

Emma shrugs. “She’s nice and I like her. I thought that was what Valentines were for.”

Mrs. Nolan pushes the ice pack a bit harder against Emma’s face. “No. It’s not. Now sit up straight and hold this while I go get some makeup.” She shakes her head. “I must’ve told your father a hundred times by now that he can’t hit you in the face. What will the church think?”

“Yes, Mom,” Emma says quietly, bowing her head.

Mrs. Nolan sighs again as she stands, reaching for a bottle of bourbon and drinking straight from it. “I love you, Emma, but you have to learn.”

Emma swallows. “I love you, too, Mom. I understand.”

* * *

**ii.**

The door to Betsy Nolan’s home bursts open in the middle of a thunderstorm.

“What on Earth-” she starts as she walks out of her kitchen, before stopping in her tracks to stare at her granddaughter, soaked to the bone and standing in the doorway. The girl isn’t wearing a jacket, a t-shirt the only thing protecting her from cold rain outside, and the only thing she’s carrying is her guitar case. “Emma?”

“Can… Can I stay here for a little while?” Emma asks, her voice choked and scared.

“Sweetheart, come in the house.” Betsy ushers her inside, closing the door, and gently pushes on Emma’s hand until the guitar is set on the floor. “Emma, you’re freezing, and… what happened to you?” She grabs Emma’s chin, turning her towards her to look at her split lip and the bruise forming on her cheek. “Emma,” Betsy says firmly. “What happened?”

Emma just starts to cry, her head falling against Betsy’s shoulder.

Bewildered, Betsy hugs her. “Sweetheart, are you hurt? Please tell me what’s going on.”

“Mom threw me out,” Emma whispers.

_ “What? _ That’s ridiculous. I’m calling Evelyn right now and-”

_ “No!” _ Emma jolts away from her as if burned and goes over to the couch, sitting down and cowering in the corner of it. “Please. Please. They’ll tell you. You’ll hate me.”

Betsy pauses before she slowly walks over and sits on the opposite end of the couch. “Emma. I could never hate you. I love you. Please tell me what’s going on.”

Emma kicks her shoes off and lifts her feet up onto the couch, hugging her knees to her chest. “I-I… I’m gay.”

If the news is a surprise to Betsy Nolan, it doesn’t show on her face. “Okay,” she says softly. “And your mom found out?”

“Dad found out first,” Emma says in a small voice. “And he…” She shrugs and looks down. “And then he stormed out, and Mom told me to leave and not to come back until I was ‘right’. She was drunk but I know she meant it.”

“Oh, Emma,” Betsy whispers. Cautiously, she slides across the couch to her and takes her hand. “Sweetheart, it will be okay. I promise you. You can stay here as long as you want to.” She reaches out to stroke Emma’s hair, pulling her hand back when Emma flinches. “Emma. This house will always be a home for you, no matter who you are, because I love you no matter who you are. Your parents are supposed to, too, and I’m sorry that they’re not good enough to do that for you. But no matter what, you have me.”

Emma looks up at her, a little shaky. “Promise?”

“I promise.”

* * *

**iii.**

“Let me help you with that,” Mrs. Greene says softly, steadying Emma’s shaking hands as she tries to tie her tie.

“Sorry,” Emma murmurs. “I-I know how to do it, I’m just…”

“You’re nervous. It’s alright. Alyssa is, too.”

“Why is she nervous? Does she not want to do this? Oh, God, what if she-”

“Emma. Relax.” Mrs. Greene sets her hands on Emma’s shoulders. “There is nothing in this world my daughter wants more than to marry you. Weddings just always tend to make people a bit anxious. Breathe, sweetheart.”

Emma takes in a ragged breath as Mrs. Greene works on her tie. “What if I say something wrong?”

“You might. It won’t be a big deal.”

“How would it not be a big deal?”

“I messed up my vows at my wedding, and I still ended up married. Alyssa’s dad and I just had something funny to talk about when we remembered the day.” Mrs. Greene leans back as she finishes and straightens the tie. “As long as you go through with it, there’s nothing you could do that would mess this day up for the two of you. Alyssa loves you.”

Emma closes her eyes, her breathing starting to calm. “Thank you, Mrs. Greene.”

“Sweetheart, I think you can call me ‘Mom’, or ‘Veronica’ if you’d rather.”

There’s a slight pause, then Emma opens her eyes. “I… If it’s okay, I think I’d rather ‘Veronica’?”

Mrs. Greene smiles. “It’s perfectly okay.”

“I-I… It’s nothing about you, I just…” Emma shrugs and looks away. “I hope someday my own kids can call me ‘Mom’, but me, using it myself? It doesn’t really have the best meaning.”

“I can understand that.” Mrs. Greene gives her a sad smile. “She didn’t come?”

Emma shakes her head. “I don’t even know why I invited her. I-I don’t…” Her voice cracks. “I don’t know how I can still love my mother.”

“Oh, honey, she’s your mother.” Mrs. Greene kisses Emma on the forehead, then winces and takes out a tissue to wipe off the smudge of lipstick. “It’s really hard to let go of that. But it’s not your fault, and you did nothing to deserve your parents’ actions.”

Emma reaches out and hugs Mrs. Greene tightly. “Thank you,” she whispers.

“You’re welcome.” Mrs. Greene pulls out of the hug, resting her hands on Emma’s shoulders. “Now. Why don’t we get you out there so you can get married?”

Emma grins. “Wouldn’t miss it.”

* * *

**iv.**

Emma sits in a chair in the hospital room, staring down at the tiny baby in her arms. “Hi little girl,” she whispers, careful not to wake her or Alyssa, asleep in the bed next to her. “I’m your mom. Don’t worry, you’re not confused, the other one is your mom, too. You’re a lucky kid. You get two moms who would move the world for you.”

Mrs. Greene steps into the room, pausing with a soft smile when she sees Emma. She walks over and sets a hand on her shoulder. “You should get some sleep, honey.”

“I don’t know if I can. I just want to look at her.”

With a quiet chuckle, Mrs. Greene leans down and kisses her on the top of the head. “Rule one. Sleep when they sleep. You’ll regret it later if you don’t.”

Emma holds the baby close, smiling when the little girl grips the string of Emma’s thin purple sweatshirt. “Is this what it’s supposed to be like?”

“What what’s supposed to be like?”

“Every time I look at her I fall more in love with her.”

Mrs. Greene rests her hand on Emma’s back and leans down to get a better look at her granddaughter. In a whisper, she says, “That’s exactly what it’s supposed to be like.”

* * *

**v.**

Alyssa laughs as she watches her wife fall to the ground under a small pile of children. “Honey, you’re going to get hurt.”

“I’ll be fine,” Emma says, voice strained as Aspen crawls on her back. “Maybe. Why do we have so many kids?”

“Because they’re cute.”

_ “Ow! _ Caden, Riley, are you standing on my  _ knees?” _

“Mostly cute,” Alyssa says as the twins giggle. She looks down at Liam, asleep in her arms. “At least one of them is a perfect little angel.”

Emma rolls her eyes as she struggles out from under her kids and picks Caden and Riley up, holding one under each arm as she retrieves the soccer ball from the other side of the yard and kicks it over to Aspen. “They were all like that when they were his age. Now they’re all terrors.”

“I’m not a terror!” Aspen protests. “I’m six!”

“Of course; my mistake.” Emma lifts Riley up a bit, unable to hold back a smile as the girl giggles uncontrollably. “How old are you and your brother?”

She thinks for a moment. “Two!”

“How could I forget?”

Aspen laughs. “Mom, it’s their  _ birthday  _ next week.”

“It can’t possibly be their birthday next week. They’re-”

“Emma,” Alyssa interrupts sharply, staring towards the street.

Emma turns around, and the blood drains from her face when she sees the car parked in the street, the woman in the driver’s seat watching them. She sets the twins down. “Aspen, take your siblings inside.”

“But-”

“Aspen,  _ now.” _

Aspen takes Caden and Riley by the hand and leads them into the house. Alyssa stays seated in her chair, but holds Liam a bit tighter, watching warily as Evelyn Nolan gets out of her car.

“I didn’t come here to hurt anyone, Emma,” she says quietly. “I just wanted to talk to you.”

“Funny. You can hurt people  _ by _ talking.”

Mrs. Nolan swallows. “I, uh… I left your father.”

“I know. It must’ve been easier to do when he only had you to hit and not your kid.”

“...Yeah. I guess it was.” Mrs. Nolan gives a humorless laugh. “It’s a coward’s answer, but it’s the truth.”

Emma takes a small step back, confused. “Why are you here, Mother?”

“When I decided to leave your father, I also decided that it was time for a real fresh start.” Mrs. Nolan starts fidgeting with her hands. “I’m in AA. Working on my twelve steps, and I… You’re one of the people I know I’ve hurt, and I know I need to apologize to.”

“I’m thirty-four, Mother. That was almost twenty years ago.”

“It still matters.”

“It does.” Emma folds her arms across her chest. “So what exactly are you apologizing for? Dad? Throwing me out? Not even having the decency to tell me that you weren’t going to show up at my wedding?”

“All of it.” Mrs. Nolan glances at Alyssa. “I-I… I can’t say that I understand, Emma, not fully. I’m not entirely sure that I ever will. But I’m your mother, and whether or not I understood shouldn’t have mattered.”

Emma sets her jaw and looks over her shoulder, meeting Alyssa’s gaze in a silent conversation. She looks back at her mother and says, “I don’t trust you. I’m not sure how long it would take for me to trust you. And I’m not entirely sure whether I can forgive you yet, either. I certainly wouldn’t know where to start explaining any of this to my kids. But the little one Alyssa is holding isn’t big enough to be confused, so…” She sighs and runs a hand through her hair. “Would you like to meet your grandson?”

Mrs. Nolan swallows, her eyes shining as she nods. “I-I would.”

Emma walks over to Alyssa and sets her hand on the back of her chair, kissing her wife on the top of the head before leaning over her shoulder to look down at the baby.

Mrs. Nolan approaches slowly, stopping just close enough to see but not too close.

“This is Liam,” Alyssa says, turning a little in her seat so Mrs. Nolan can get a better view. “Liam Thomas Nolan-Greene.”

“Oh, Emma,” Mrs. Nolan whispers. “He’s gorgeous.”

“I’m hoping he has Emma’s heart to go with her looks,” Alyssa jokes lightly as she turns her head to kiss Emma on the cheek.

Mrs. Nolan glances at Emma, staring down at her son with complete and total devotion. “I don’t think you’ll need to worry about that.”


End file.
